The importance of microplastics pollution studies in water and soil of Nigeria ecosystems

The ubiquity of microplastics in the environment is a novel problem to scientist, public media, governmental and non-governmental organization. The major problem is from the difficultness in removing them from the ecosystem. Elsewhere studies are being conducted while in Nigeria studies are relatively lacking. Production (10.3 %) and consumption (6.5 %) of plastics is on the increase annually, thereby, causing an increase in the amount of plastic waste generated annually. This is turn may potentially causing high microplastics pollution in Nigeria. Many reports have shown that microplastics could cause harm to man, animals and plants and exposure (or ingestion) could come from air, water and soil. Few studies have been conducted in Nigeria and reports have suggested high abundance of microplastics in Nigeria freshwater system. Following these observations, there is a clear need for more detailed studies focusing on the quantitative and qualitative determination of occurrence of microplastics in Nigeria ecosystem. Finally, from such studies, data generated will provide insight and understanding into the extent of microplastic pollution in Nigeria. Furthermore, the data will be important not only for both remediation and minimization of effects, but could be employed in averting occurrence through policies such as ban on some types of plastic uses in Nigeria. In this study, four manually generally microplastic types (PVC, acrylics, polyesters, silicones) were evaluated for heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Hg, and As) adsorption at optimized pH by ETAAS.